Known fixed light assemblies are useful for lighting outdoor areas such as a walkway leading up to the front door of a residence, to accent the border of a patio or outdoor space, or to decorate a yard or a garden. Fixed light assemblies utilize conventional line voltage, which 120 v AC electrical energy commonly found in most U.S. residences. Fixed outdoor lighting line voltage assemblies are relatively permanent as such assemblies are built into walls, stairs or posts where varying inclinations of the light source produces directional or aesthetic effects. Such fixed light assemblies are expensive to manufacture as they require a weatherproofed construction for the outdoor application such as additional insulation, gaskets or other adaptations in order to operate in various weather conditions. Fixed light assemblies also have the additional cost associated with installation by the homeowner or professionals to local electrical codes.
Other outdoor line, light assemblies can be configured as portable, which are useful in applications requiring changing various aspects such as the location and/or the inclination of illumination. One known assembly is the popular pivoting light assembly such as a portable, flood lamp unit. The flood lamp unit can be manufactured connect to a line voltage adapted to a surface or ground mounted brackets so as to be relocated or to direct the illumination at select inclinations such as, for example, as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,721 B1. However such flood lamps also require a require a weatherproofed construction such as additional housing and power cord gaskets for sealing the lamp and power cord, respectively, and spaced sealing rings thereby providing a sealed cartridge for the electrical socket, which all increase the manufacturing expense.
Other systems can be characterized as lower voltage, whereby an AC-to-DC transformer reduces the voltage from 120-v-AC house current to a much lower level, such as 11 volts, 12 volts, or 16 volts DC. The reduced voltage AC provides power to a series of low-voltage incandescent lamps connected one to another by electrical wiring. Some may include timers. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2007/0091598 A1 illustrates a Low-voltage LED garden light.
Other assemblies may be self-contained units employing a stored power supply such as batteries and/or made rechargeable by solar power. Each low voltage assembly is attached to a stake that the homeowner simply pushes a stake at the bottom into the ground, covers over the wire between the fixtures with some dirt, connects the transformer to house current, and sets the timer- and the system is operational.
While low-voltage lighting has become popular, it is not without its problems including the lamps provided in low-voltage lighting fail frequently, and must be replaced, because outdoor applications have severe operating conditions such as, for example, moisture in the form of rain and snow can enter the lamp housing causing electrical and potential safety problems. Other disadvantages include cost, for example, the cost of prior-art low-voltage lighting is above what many consumers are willing to pay for such lighting. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a low-cost, low-voltage lighting system that will provide greater reliability in outdoor applications.
Current systems have other disadvantages in outdoor applications as the electric conductors to be connected to low voltage powered ground level lighting. The wiring causes problems and inconvenience when removing and replacing. Non-wired fixtures eliminate this problem but are usually solar powered and inadequate as such solar powered units illuminated light is insufficient, uneven, short lived, and uncontrollable. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a low-cost, low-voltage lighting system that will provide a user with the advantages of wired ground level lighting and the convenience of non-wired solar lighting.